Printing-press



(No Model.)

T; E. MANN.

PRINTING PRESS. No. 355,407. Patented Jan. 4, 1887.

tion.

NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

THOMAS E. MANN, or GLADBROOK, owA.

PRINTING-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,407, dated January4, 1887.

Application filed July 28, 1885. Serial No. 172,859. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THoMAs E. MANN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Gladbrook, in the county of Tania and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Presses, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to so improve the construction of handprinting-presses as to render them simpler and cheaper in manufacture,easier of operation, and morceconomical of space than ordinary presses.

The invention consists in the peculiar arrangement and construction ofparts andadap-. tation thereof, as will be hereinafter fully set forthand described.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents a plan View of the invention; Fig. '2, alongitudinal section of the same; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section of thecylinder; Fig. 4, a sectional side elevation showing the means foradjusting the cylinder with respect to the bed vertically andlongitudinally, and Fig. 5 a modification in the manner of attaching thepaper-table to the frame.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts:

' For the sake of chcapness and simplicity I prefer to use wood in themanufacture of my press wherever the same can be made available. It isalso lighter than iron, and permits the removal of portions of the presswhen not in use, which is a peculiar feature of my inven- The lumbershould, of course, be thoroughly seasoned, and hard wood is naturallypreferred, though in practice I use good dry pine with satisfactoryresults.

The frame consists, essentially, of three parts-a central portion, A,and two end sections, B, whi-ch support the paper-table, and, whenconnected with the central part, complete the track or bed. The middlepart, which may be called the bed-frame, is a nearly square frame-workbuilt solidly of wood, so as to support the heavy weight imposed uponit.

ering these cross-beamsH H by means of shims s s, or equivalent device.As but slight vertical movement is ever required, themiddle tracksalonemay be adjusted to secure the proper pressure of the cylinder upon theform, as indicated in Fig. 4. 4

The bed F rests upon transverse beams of the frame, as shown. It iscomposed chiefly of wood, and is preferably made of several thicknessesthereof fastened cross-grained together. Its upper surface is coveredwith metal. As this part of the press is exposed to more or lesswetting, it is desirable that the surface should be of some metal notinjuriously 6 affected thereby, and I therefore prefer zinc for thatpurpose. One thickness of heavy sheet-zinc may be sufficient; but inpractice I use a backing of sheetiron, m, as indicated in Fig. 2. p

The bed is held in position laterally by the rails A A andlongitudinally by the transverse rods 1) p, or equivalent means. As thevertical adjustment is made by the movement of the tracks instead of thebed, it is obvious that the latter may be fastened permanently to theframe, if desired; but whether attached to the bed-beams or simplyresting thereupon it is evident that the bed is much more solid and firmthan if it, instead of the track, were movable. r The terminal parts ofthe frame consist of uprights B, 'which support the paper-table D at thetop. To these uprights are pivoted'rails B B, which, when hooked to themiddle frame, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, complete the track for thecylinder 0. These end rails should be inclined somewhat, as shown, togive the cylinder a momentum sufficient to carry it over the bed. Allthe rails are faced with iron to 0 afford a smooth and permanentbearing-surface for the cylinder. A slight recess in the top of therails affords a restingplace for the cylinder at the end of its movementeach way. The jog may be made by letting the iron end at this 5 point,or making a suitable depression therein. To economize space the endportion may be folded up when not in use, as shown in Fig. 2, and setaway. The uprights are connected by suitable cross-pieces, one of which,G, may rco serve as a rack for the papers as delivered from thecylinder. A simple device for atrod, J, hinged to both the table and theend of the rail the necessary movements are made, as will be evident bya reference to said figure, the dotted lines therein showing theposition of the parts when folded.

The cylinder 0 is composed of wooden staves secured to wooden. heads ordisks, and bound at each end with an iron tire corresponding with thetracks upon which they run. To give the greatest strength and preventirregular shrinkage, the disks are made of two or more pieces of woodfastened together crossgrained. When only two pieces of wood are used ineach disk, they are preferably put together, not at right angles, but atan angle of from fifty to eighty degrees, so that the distance from themiddle of one board to the middle of the corresponding end of 'the otherboard (considered with respect to the grain of the wood) constitutesabout one-third of the periphery. In putting the cylinder together thedisks should be set so that thepart thereof containing the most of theend of the wood shall be on the same side of the cylin der, and on oneof these sides, for obvious reasons, should be placed the tympan G. Thecylinderis of course turned perfectly true. To give it the requisiteweight it may be filled with any suitable heavy substance. In practice Iuse old scrap-iron, it being cheap and always accessible, and welladapted for the purpose. To prevent the pieces of iron from rattling inthe cylinder, I pour in liquid cement, which hardens and binds thecontents in a solid mass. I thus have a cylinder with all the essentialqualities of an iron cylinder, but at a very much less cost.

The tympan O is made by tacking to one side of the cylinder a piece ofheavy tin, 0, and over this the usual facing of paper or felt.

The gripper E is of the simplest nature, and requires littledescription. Its fingers are held out from the cylinder bysprings, andit is made to grip by the movement of a pivoted lever, e, on theopposite side up an inclined lug, d, as will be readily understood byreferring to the drawings.

The cylinder is propelled by means of a handle, h, at the end, andasecondary handle, h, on the periphery and near the gripper, so thatwiththe same movement required in seizing this handle the operator engagesand disengages the gripper.

The cylinder is guided in its movement on the track by lateral lugs e emeshing in the notched guide-plates f f. These plates are attached tothe frame each side of the bed, and the lugs to the cylinder, or viceversa, in a corresponding relation to the tympan. The notch in the lugis made leading and the lug somewhat pointed, so as to readily entersaid notch. It will be evident that even though the cylindenshould bethrown somewhat out of position at the start it will right itself justbefore it reaches that part of its course where the impression is made.As the cylinder for an ordinary press weighs about eight hundred pounds,there is comparatively little liability of its getting out of place whenonce adjusted, and the cheap and simple device described has been foundto answerperfectly the purpose for which cogs or other more or lesscomplicated and expensive apparatus are usually employed.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the press is verysimple in its construction, and, as compared with the ordinaryhand-press, is easy of operation. In the mat ter of speed it has beenfound to be superior to the various lever presses in common use. Byreason of its simplicity. of structure and the general use of woodinstead of iron it may be made much more cheaply than any other press ofequal capacity known to me. It is designed to meet the wants of thoserequiring an inexpensive but effective press, to whom the economy whichit affords in the space it occupies, except when in use, itsportability, and the ease with which it may be repaired, are, with thosealready mentioned, important and valuable considerations.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A printing-press having a central frame adapted to support the bedand removable frames adapted to support the paper-table and, whenconnected with the central frame, form a part of the track upon whichthe cylinder runs, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a printing-press, the combination of frame A, bed F, track A A,and track-sup porting cross-beams H H, with means for adjusting themvertically,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with the bed-frame A, the end frame, B, having thepaper-table removably attached thereto, and the tracks B B pivotedthereto, whereby the frame may be folded together, substantially asshown and described.

4. The described cylinder for printingpresses, composed of stavessecured to circular heads or disks bound at each end with an iron bandand filled with scrap-iron and cement, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a cylinder for a printing-press, the combination of a woodencylinder filled with scrap-iron and cement and a tympan composed of alayer of sheet-tin attached to the by the gripper may be set or releasedwith the i0 cylinder and an outer layer of paper or felt, same movementof the hand required in reachas and for the purpose set forth. ing forthe handles.

6. The combination of the cylinder 0, hav- In testimony whereof I affixmy signaturein ing the lateral handle 71 and the radial hanpresence oftwo witnesses.

.dles h h, and the gripper E, having the later- THOMAS E. MANN.

ally-movable lever c, engaging with the in- Witnesses: olined lug d andarranged with respect to the GEORGE SOHOEL, radial handles,substantially as shown, where- J. R. ARNOLD.

